Friday, June 18, 2010

Had the day off, and boy was I glad, it was perfectly sunny and enjoyably warm! The morning held a couple of errands which I ran on bike. I made this pink lemonade card to enter a contest on Paper Crafts. Info about the contest can be found here : http://www.flickr.com/groups/pc_go-to_sketch_challenge_4/As you can see I stuck with the lemon theme I've been on all week. To really enjoy my day off, I picked up a couple of my favourite magazines to read whilst I sat in the shade, dipping my feet in Daisy's kiddie pool, while she daintily dipped her paws to cool off. I also made a light summer snack, Lemon Jello (yeah i bought store brand cause i'm cheap...sadly, they didn't have a light version). We also spent a delightful hour at the dog park, which I think has become my favourite place.

In the evening, after years of preparation, I finally went public with my singing & guitar playing. We had a talent show at church, and I signed up to do a couple of songs.

Playlist :

Meant for me by Jewel

All You Wanted by Michelle Branch

Good Mother by Jann Arden

Judging by the reception, I'd say years of practice worked off. I was uber nervous, and yet, so excited to finally have a chance to share my love of music with others. This pic was taken after the show once I was home and the nerves had disappeared.

All in all, I'd say today was a perfect Friday for me, and now I'm looking forward to the weekend. I hope everyone has an amazing weekend. Be sure to check out this post : http://fdwdaisy.blogspot.com/2010/06/daisykisses-giveaway.html to enter for a chance to win a dazzling pair of LemonDrop LolliPop earrings from my Daisy*Kisses line of handmade jewelry!!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Meaning LEMONS of course. There is something about bright sunny days and warm weather that makes me crave these citrus fruits. They yield such yummy delights in both baking and cooking, that they are one of my favourite ingredients, something I always keep on hand in the fridge. Mum had found one of my Vegan Lemon Scone recipes tucked in her box, and that seemed like reason enough to make them. First thing this morning I hopped on my bike and went to the store to fill up on some fresh summer picks. The recipe for the scones is as follows, and an easy peasy tutorial is here too!

Vegan Lemon Poppyseed Scones :

-2 cups whole wheat flour

-3/4 cup white sugar

-4 tsp baking powder

-pinch of salt

-3/4 cup margarine

- 1 lemon, zested and juiced

-2 tbsp poppyseeds

-1/2 cup soymilk

-1/4 cup water

First thing, sift all dry ingredients together into a bowl. It will sift out the yummy bran of the flour, so just dump those bits in after everything else is sifted. Cut margarine into dry ingredients until its all nice and crumbly.

Add remaining ingredients, poppyseeds, and slowly add the liquid. If your mix seems too liquidy, then you can use less water, or, add a bit more flour. Combine it all up til its a nice ball. Then with floured hands take chunks as small or large as you like your scones, and roll them into balls.

Make sure to space them. They'll expand quite a bit in the oven. Now I wish I knew how to do fancy triangle scones, but i'll have to find a tutorial and learn it for myself first. For now, round will do. Bake at 400F or 200C for 10-15 minutes.

And voila, yummy lemony vegan scones. They're not overly sweet, but they are lovely fresh.

Now foods with lemon are not all that have been on my brain, I simply adore yellow this time of year, and was browsing Etsy for some sunny finds.

This sweet lemony organizer holds coupons and a notebook for runs to the market. You can find it and others at offthehookbybrooke.etsy.com

I practically squealed when I saw these cupcake wrappers. Hello fun tea party accessories? So cute, and a dozen is so affordable, find these and other cute paper wrappers at Oliviaspapershoppe.etsy.com

Lastly, you know I can't help but browse through pet things for my darling Daisy. I found a super sweet yellow polkadot collar. It would be so fresh for summer! These and many more accessories for your pooch can be found at collarsbydesign.etsy.com.

I'll be keeping with the lemon theme this week, as I have more recipes and things to share. There will even be a sweet giveaway of one of my own jewelry creations from Daisy*Kisses!! For a head's up, you'll be able to enter the giveaway contest by leaving a comment under Tomorrow's post, 2 entries by leaving a comment AND following the blog, and 3 entries for commenting, following and posting a link/featuring the contest on your blog!

Thanks for popping in, remember to leave some love, and spread the word!

Friday, June 11, 2010

After two hectic days of work at the restaurant, I had this beautiful friday off. There were chores to get done, and jewelry to be made (I made a pair of sweet earrings for my dear friend Emma who is going to Korea for the summer; and like a dufus I forgot to take a picture of them before giving them away). And once all the necesarry things were out of the way, I decided to do my favourite thing, which is go to the dog park with Daisy!

I slathered myself in sunscreen, filled the waterbottle, and pocketed plenty of poop bags before heading out. We walk there and back, so we get plenty of exercise (and it really tires her out so she is nice and mellow the rest of the day). In the evenings we generally go in the "small" dog park, but Daisy being the awkward size that she is, I blame the stubby legs, she can go either way. So because it wasn't an overly busy afternoon, we went in the "big" dog side.

Of course I had to bring my camera along to utilize the sun's perfect lighting, and get some new photos for her scrapbook. Doesn't she look so happy above? She really does love the dog park, it does wonders for socializing your dog and helping to make them happier. The pictures below are ones I took at home in the backyard, right before I filled up her kiddie pool for her to cool off.

I'll admit I took alot of pictures today. She is so good about doing sit -stays when I need a shot, but I think at this point she was feeling like I was the paparazzi. Love her little 'tude, like "No more please".

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

I'm trying to post regularly, so I can get myself back into the blogging habit. Granted, everyday life does not always seem post-worthy, and it is rarely accompanied by photos. But there are a few things I should very much like to share with my readers.

First off, I received an exciting parcel on Monday afternoon, and inside was such a treasure. I had custom ordered a pair of earrings from a fellow Etsy seller, a Canadian to boot, and they had just arrived. Had I been thinking, I might have taken pictures of the cute packaging, but I was so eager, I simply dove right in.

Inside were my earrings, the sweet wire wrapped pair I had been checking the mailbox for everyday since I bought them.

Simply amazing aren't they? Giddy as I was to try these on, to my surprise and further excitement, Joella had included a second pair of earrings completely free as a thank you gift!!! They are gorgeous gold and turquoise dangles, and I will post a picture soon. She has been so sweet, and her work inspires me. I want you all to check out her shop right now and click favourites, I promise you won't be disappointed by her wonderful handmade designs. http://www.etsy.com/shop/jkfoster I already know I'll be shopping with her again soon.

Also, tonight was our last Young Womens activity before summer break, so we had a little party for the girls at church. My friend ordered gourmet cupcakes from The Cake Box, and I made yummy fruit-kabobs with Marshmallows included. I also helped the girls create their own monogrammed door hangers. Mine is shown there at the top. I simply printed out large letters for each girls name, cut out the letter from coloured cardstock, and then glued that onto a 6 by 6 inch cardboard square which I had modge podged patterned paper onto. Add some pretty ribbon with little brads, and voila, a cute, easy paper craft!

Monday, June 7, 2010

I've been very absent from the blogging world for the past few months. Life has its ups and downs, and I was meeting quite frequently with some down portions, so I felt it was necessary to just step back and not worry about these sort of things. However, I'm feeling wonderful now, and with the sun making attempts to break through the rainy clouds, I can see clear skies ahead.

I thought it was time to get back on the blogging bandwagon. Though I have always felt blogs were incredibly self centered things, I've noticed that they can be therapeutic. And there are blogs which are so wonderful and inspiring.My etsy shop Daisy*Kisses, has slowly been updated with new summer earrings. I've really got the earring bug at the moment, and keep feeling inspired to make more little danglies to adorn your lobes. Just yesterday I added three new sets of sweet floral earrings, excellent accessories for girly girls in summer. Take a peek at the shop here http://www.blogger.com/www.daisykisses.etsy.com ! If having a green thumb isn't your thing but you still love flowers, then these are the perfect way to show it.

I also attended a 2 hour photography workshop that a friend of mine had put on this past Saturday, and boy was I glad I did! One of my biggest frustrations with the whole etsy endeavor, is that the pictures are absolutely essential in selling a product. If one can't see the quality of the item, because the picture is too fuzzy or too dark, then buying is a scary process.

I have an HP Photosmart M415, and its really not the best for great photography. However, I was able to learn some great tricks in the class, about how to take better pictures, and was eager to try it out. The new earrings gave the opportunity to do just that. See here, I'm quite pleased with the improvement in my shots.

Granted, I still want to save up and get a better camera. She talked about Aperture, ISO and Shutter Speed in the class, all functions in a camera that can make taking good quality pictures so much easier. I'm definitely going to start piggybanking for that now, and also, try and use my camera more often to take some more artistic, or just plain better, photos.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

I have long been absent from the blogging world and I have ever so much to catch up on reading. But my days have not been entirely fruitless (pun intended). There are some new items in my Etsy shop, most notably this sweet little collection of lemony jewelry.The above bracelet is three strands of sunny cuteness. The gold & silver closure is salvaged from a vintage necklace I found. And all the pearls used are also recycled from old jewelry. All other yellow and white beads are made of glass.These earrings remind me of a tangy lollipop! So fun, they'd be sure to brighten up any outfit.

And this single strand bracelet has the perfect combination of delicate recycled pearls and fun fruity swirls. All items are available for sale now in my shop! www.daisykisses.etsy.com . Please have a look, and leave me some feedback!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Isn't Valentine just too cute (unfortunately she's probably bacon by now, I know I didn't eat her). So you may already be aware that February is indeed heart month, or the month for heart & stroke awareness. I was reading the latest issue of SHAPE magazine the other night, and came across an article about lessening our risk factors for heart disease.

Well, the article got me thinking about how I had allowed my good habits to decline. And I began wondering what sort of affect this was having on my heart. I asked my Mum about our family history, and if heart disease or strokes were scattered in there. I have an uncle who suffered a stroke on my father's side, but that was it as far as we knew.

So my genetic risk factors seem fairly low. But I know genetics aren't the only factors. My day to day choices today will affect how well my ticker works in ten-twenty-fifty years. Should I be proactive, or reactive?

I hope the answer to that is clear. So after much thought and rereading of the article, I decided to make some positive changes. Mum and I made an agreement to try to eat our healthiest for one month. Now, we don't eat horrible anyway, but there are some processed foods that maybe should be less frequent in our home. I was surprised that Mum was so willing to accept the challenge, but she is totally up for it (after all she's not the one addicted to her nightly bowl of ice cream...that is my own demon to face).

The great thing is we've planned out the month's meals. We've found that making up meal schedules ahead of time, makes a huge difference in the quality of the food we eat (no lazy pizza or fries), and the grocery bill gets affected for better (less food wastage, and its cheaper because we don't run to the store and just pick up anything frequently). I'm excited to cook meals every night, some old, some new recipes. I'll be certain to document a few of the new vegetarian ones we'll make.

So think about YOUR heart this month, and give it a little lovin. I'll be writing more about the topic througout the month.

What's the deal with Frugal Daisy?

In an attempt to find fulfillment in daily life, I took some time off work to see what would really make me happy. It turns out that simple things, like walking with my adorable dog Daisy, trying a new recipe, getting creative with my passion for jewelry making, and forging stronger bonds with friends and family were the answers.

Back to work at the restaurant, I truly value my time off now. Days off are spent with Daisy, partaking and documenting her amazing zeal for life. Dogs truly are man's best friend. My spare time is also devoted to creating new jewelry for my etsy shop Daisy*Kisses, a wonderful creative outlet for me, and a way to reach others through something I love.

This lifestyle has certainly made me embrace the idea of frugality and this blog is a way for me to document the wonderful things in my life, that I come by on relatively 'cheap' terms.